British racing is proud to be a world leader in sport when it comes to transparency around raceday and regulatory decision-making.

For instance, every enquiry held by the stewards is accompanied by a written enquiry notice which is published on the BHA website alongside other extensive raceday information as part of our stewards reports.

And every decision made by the sport’s independent Judicial Panel is accompanied by written reasons which are published via the independent Judicial Panel’s website.

However, more than this, the BHA is proud that its teams have embraced a spirt of openness and accountability when it comes to its decision making which is unparalleled across other major sports.

Some examples which demonstrate the BHA’s leadership in sports regulation include:

• BHA stewards and officials will speak to broadcasters in live interviews, on the day, if an explanation around any of their decisions is requested.
• We provide exclusive and unparalleled access by allowing cameras to broadcast live from stewards enquiries on racedays through the sport’s primary broadcast partners ITV Racing.
• Media are granted access to report from to the regular disciplinary panel or appeal hearings which are held in person by the independent Judicial Panel.

We are also looking to develop other innovations which will provide even greater access and insight into how decisions are made.

Why do you not broadcast deliberations from stewards enquiries?

We are sometimes asked why the cameras who broadcast from stewards enquiries are not permitted to broadcast the Panel’s deliberations around a decision.

This is understandable, however we are not aware of any judicial process or quasi-judicial process in any sport, regulatory or criminal system in which the deliberations of a jury or panel of decision-makers are broadcast.

It is essential, to promote robust debate of an incident, that panel members in any judicial system can voice their opinions freely. This would be severely impacted if their deliberations were to be broadcast.

Moreover, betting remains live on races while stewards enquiries are being deliberated. It is not fair to the panel or betting public that the views of a steward could influence betting markets in real time.

For these reasons there are no plans to consider broadcasting such deliberations.